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DEN has a few upcoming players in the form of Viktor Axelsen (winner of Cyprus International 2010, the current WJC champion and losing Finalist last weekend at the Swedish International Challenge). Not to mention the Danish's WJC bronze-medallist in BD Kim Astrup Sorensen/Rasmus Fladberg. In fact, they just won their first senior title last weekend.

Their 2 Senior MDs are strong, with Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen ranked at no 1 now and a reasonable senior/junior pairing of Jonas Rasmussen/Mads Conrad-Petersen. These pairs are able to beat CHN, INA, KOR, or MAS's 2 doubles as they have shown in recent tourneys (with Boe/Mogensen beating Fu/Cai, and Rasmussen/Conrad-Petersen beating Guo/Chai yesterday).

If their double pairs are in form, they just need a point from the Singles to win the Thomas Cup, but, singles are unfortunately their weak link at the moment.

Zhang Lianying: A Chinese behind Danish Badminton flourishing

"Even though modern badminton has orginated from England, only one country in Europe pose a threat to beat the Chinese badminton players: Denmark.

However, behind the Danish Badminton team, there is a Chinese coach; Zhang Lianying, who is now the technical coach for Danish Badminton Association.

During his 22 years' work in Denmark Lianying has worked together with international top players and world masters such as Poul-Erik Hoeyer Larsen, Peter Rasmussen, Peter Gade, Camilla Martin and Tine Baun.

Before coming to Denmark, Lianying worked as the coach for the Tianjin women's badminton team in China for nine years. In 1989, Lianying was invited by Bjoern and Tonny Holst-Christensen to come to Denmark to be the private coach of their son Jon Holst-Christensen.

Soon his reputation spread around the country and Lianying became the coach for the 23-years-old Poul-Erik Hoeyer Larsen. After only three rounds of training, Poul-Erik Hoeyer Larsen beat the four-time All England winner Morten Frost and just four month after his arrival in Denmark, Lianying became the special coach for Danish Badminton Association's Elite Center in Broendby.

" At the beginning, the biggest challenge coming to Denmark was learning the language and to get used to live in the Danish society. Luckily Danes are good at speaking English, but soon I started to have Danish lessons and today I can speak Danish" , Lianying says.

From 1996 to 1999, Lianying were in charge of the men's badminton team. At the same time Danish badminton achieved great international success. Poul-Erik Hoeyer Larsen, Peter Rasmussen, Peter Gade won many international tournaments such as Olympic, world championships and All England. However, Lianying turned to be the technical coach for Danish Badminton Association.

" I would like to have more time to train with our players. So I can do things the way I want" , Lianying says.

And Lianying' s way of training the Danish players is different from his Danish colleagues. Opposite many of his Danish colleagues, Lianying provides a personalized training according to the players' individual strengths and potentials. And often a player will improve his or her techniques after each training session.

Lianying has also received offers from other European countries like Germany, the Netherlands and England. However, Lianying turned them off even though some of them were very attractive seen from an economic point of view.

"I am satisfied with my career and network in Denmark. I have been working here for 22 years which is longer than any other trainer before me and I have built a good relationship with the players here" Lianying explains.

During his record long coorperation with the Danish Badminton Association a long line of international top players has gone through the Chinese expert training.

Multiple winner of the Danish Championship and double All England winner Tine Baun trained with Lianying since she was 12.

" Lianying is not only a super trainer. He is also a super good friend. He smiles a lot and is always in a good mood. He talks about not only badminton but also ask us how things go in our families. He has been really important for my career" , Tine says.

One of Lianying' s other forces is his skill at technical details, which reinforces the strengths of the traditional European players. Peter Gade, the winner of All England ' 99 and being No. 1 on the world rankings for almost 3 consecutive years 1998-2001 says, "He is indisputably the best coach I ever have had. It's because of him that I can constantly develop my moves and my net games. Moreover, I am impressed that he has trained our elite players not only at one way. He is a master at finding each player's strength and making them even better. Therefore, every Danish singles player has his or her own style."

Peter Rasmussen, the winner of World Championships in 1997, was a medical student before he started his career as a badminton player. At that time he didn' t really know whether he wanted to continue to study or to be a badminton player. Lianying encouraged him and told him," You can be a world champion."

And Peter Rasmussen actually won the World Championships in 1997 in Scotland after a memorable and dramatic final against China's Sun Jun.

" It is only because of Lianying that I won the World Championship. In the last seven to eight years he has worked with me every day at the gym. He stands behind my development of becoming a world class player" , Peter Rasmussen says. Recently Peter Rasmussen has finished his studies and is now a medical doctor after he stopped his career as a badminton player at around 2004.

Lianying lives a happy family life at Copenhagen. He and his wife have two daughters. The eldest daughter is a dentist and the little daughter, born in Denmark, is a pupil in primary school.

Lianying has also been actively in promoting the badminton exchanges between Denmark and China. This summer Lianying (2011) will organize a youth badminton players team to train and live in China.

Lianying says: "I look forward to train more young upcoming players. I work with them and live with them. I hope this will bring up more good players. "

Joachim Fischer Nielsen is one of the most expressive characters in badminton. An animated and emotional figure, he is a stark contrast to many of the other subdued personalities in the sport. As a mixed doubles player (with Christinna Pedersen), Fischer is one of the most accomplished players in the world. Bronze medals at the World Championships and Olympics are among many titles the pair has won over the years. The London Olympic bronze was followed by memorable campaigns at the BWF Superseries Finals, where the Danish duo twice beat the reigning Olympic champions on the way to the gold, and the Malaysia Open Superseries, which also they won, to help propel them to a career-best ranking of No.3.

You’ve had a great season in the second half of 2012. Anything special in training that helped you win so many tournaments? No, actually not. After the Olympics, I wasn’t that motivated for playing badminton. Through the last two years, I have had a lot of focus on the Olympics. So, afterwards, I needed to find new motivation and goals, and to win a tournament in China and Malaysia has always been a goal for me.
What difference did the Olympic bronze make to you, personally and professionally?
It meant a lot for me, as it has been a goal for me for many years to perform at the Olympics. Personally, it has been a great satisfaction for me, and I am proud of the medal. Professionally, it hasn’t changed anything, as I always have had a good confidence and believe in myself.

Your recollections of the Olympics – you were close to winning the semifinal against Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei, but lost narrowly. Does that loss hurt? Or did the bronze medal compensate for the semifinal loss? I had the worst day of my life after losing the semifinal and I almost did not get any sleep before the bronze medal match. The next day Christinna, (coach) Lars Uhre and I talked about the big difference to go home with a medal or not, and we agreed to give all we had to get that bronze medal with us to Denmark.
At 34 years of age, how are you able to maintain the physical fitness for top-level badminton?
I have got two knee operations in the last three years and I must admit that it has been a big challenge to play all the tournaments and team matches. It is important for me that I do my physical training and I always keep my body in good flow.

What is your opinion of the top Chinese pairs? In your opinion, how do they manage to deliver every time at important tournaments like the World Championships and Olympics? Of course, the Chinese players are very strong and are always able to keep a high level. I think an important reason that they always perform well is because of the strong team they have with many strong players and coaches. They have been used to performing their best at a very young age and they compete at a high level at each training session.

How do you rate the BWF World Superseries victory last year? You beat the Olympic gold medallists in both matches. Was that one of your best tournament wins? Firstly, I am proud that we were able to win a tournament in China, as this is not an easy target. Secondly, it was great to beat the Olympic champions twice on their home ground. In all I think we played the best tournament ever and therefore it means a lot to me.
What made you choose to become a mixed doubles player?
In 2006, the former national coach, Steen Pedersen, wanted me to play mixed doubles. In the beginning, I thought he had become crazy, but now I must admit that he was right about something.

Growing up, who were your main influences in your badminton career? I have always had a big passion for badminton, so it has been natural for me to find out how far I could go.
What do you think is the future of badminton in Europe? Why is Europe able to produce good doubles teams but few singles players?
I think the future for badminton in Europe looks okay, but we still have to work very hard, if we are to compete with the strong Asian players.
Could you tell us about your hobbies and family and how you spend your free time away from the court?
I prefer and almost do spend all my free time together with my family, especially with my son (3 years old) and girlfriend.
What are the secrets to a successful mixed doubles partnership?
Train hard together and believe in each other.